Here's a story line that shares our thoughts when we were creating SmartOakland and what's most important when beginning to build Smart Cities - the humans we're building them for. Things need to make sense, be inclusive, be tailored for each community, and be sustainable for all to benefit.

We thought about how to deliver business and technology services to constituents throughout Oakland's 145 micro-communities and how to structure what happens...

Constituents should have access to high-quality services combining data and functionality from health, sustainability, education, public services, non-profits and businesses...

There should be no single leader, it should not be run by city government, it should not hinge on limited city grants, or non-profit funding cycles to stay nimble and responsive...

All parties should bring what they have to the table to fortify the services with the best parts of all groups for each need to create a sustainable network of resources...

Constituents are at the center of every solution concept and pillar groups come together to share data services to be profoundly transform and conserve city and community resources...

If micro-neighborhood constituents shared information, stories, and answers in context of core services we could discover untapped resources and solutions in each community...

If we engage each micro-neighborhood and the constituents there the size would be manageable and we could co-design and develop solutions that really work for them...

People could grow their understanding of their own information, what it takes to build their own systems, and generate their own revenue streams to support their own neighborhoods...

We will start every conversations with stories and needs within human trust networks and build personal resilience, data, applications, technology and locally-owned infrastructure...

We could decide to fix issues we agree are not acceptable for Oaklanders, our friends, families, business colleagues and community members who wait without answers...

Constituents learn to design their answers, new businesses, and community services while using cutting edge strategy and technologies they need to bring their visions together...

Like right now, we can pool resources, knowledge, technology, human networks, policy, services, and abilities to end lead poisoning and regenerate our communities...

When we see combined stories and data from the past we can recognize patterns recurring in the present we actively use this insight to define new pathways to alternate futures...

We can do something about the news we saw in December 2016 about Fruitvale having higher lead poisoning levels than Flint, MI, because we do have answers right now...

Our Smart City looks, feels, grows, and lives like Oaklanders because they've brought and built life into the technology surfacing the heart and soul of our rich, resilient, sustainable city...